1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to video games. More particularly, the present invention relates to a method for controlling the difficulty in a video game which is made to progress by clearing a plurality of stages for which individual difficulties are set, a storage medium for storing a program which embodies the method for controlling difficulty in the video game, and a game apparatus.
2. Related Background Art
Role playing games (hereinafter referred to as RPGs) are one type, or class, of video games. The RPGs are typically games in which a story is developed through conversation between a player character and another character or through battles between a player character and an enemy character through manipulating the player character on a screen. In such RPGs, ability values given to the player character may be increased through repetition of battles between the player character and an enemy character. The increasing ability values may be the maximum (HPmax) of a hit point (HP), an attack power, and so on, as will be appreciated by those skilled in the art. Through increasing the ability values given to the player character, the player character, manipulated by a player, or user, often acquires the ability to beat a strong enemy character, which makes it possible to move the story forward, e.g., allow the game to progress.
In conventional RPGs, when the player character beats an enemy character in a battle during the game, an experience value is often awarded to the player character used in the battle. The degree or magnitude of the experience value is typically determined by the mightiness of the beaten enemy. When the experience value accumulated by the player character exceeds a predetermined value, a level set for the player character is raised. The rise of the level generally increases the various ability values associated with the player character. The increase in the ability values lowers the difficulty for the player character win battles thereafter. In cases where the player character competes with an extremely strong enemy. e.g., an enemy such as a boss character that appears last in a dungeon set as a stage of a RPG, the player character may defeat the boss character easily by raising the level of the player character through experience of as many matches or battles with weaker enemy characters as possible. However, more time is typically necessary for playing the matches with weaker enemy characters. Thus, a player who wants to clear all the stages of a RPG as early as possible would typically have to fight with the boss character after few matches with weaker enemy characters. When a player fights with the boss character without first fighting many matches with weaker enemy characters, the player character is often forced to have a difficult game by virtue of the degree of the low level of the player character. In this case, the player character may defeat the boss character by selectively using various items in order to advance the battle advantageously, or by making an attack at a weak point of the boss character.
In conventional methods of imparting an experience value according to the mightiness of an enemy character result in the experience value, which is lent to the player character after the defeat of the last boss character in the typically later, or dungeon, stages of a RPG, is being determined depending upon only the mightiness or strength of the boss character. In this case, returns such as increases in the experience value that are based upon the mightiness of a boss character are typically insufficient when compared against the implications of a defeat of the extremely strong boss character by a comparatively weak player character to clear the dungeon.
In order to maintain the interest level of a player who wishes to clear or complete the game more quickly, a high-grade strategy may be used. With a high-grade strategy, when the player character wins a difficult battle, the ability of the player character may be raised according to the difficulty thereof. If sufficient growth is acquired by clearing one dungeon, for instance, it may become possible to quickly overcome dungeons with much stronger enemies through the use of similar methods.
The present invention has been accomplished noting the conventional problem described above. One aspect of the present invention provides a difficulty control method in a video game which allows the difficulty to be controlled so that an entire game may be overcome or completed quickly by making free use of a high-grade strategy. In other words, the ability of the player character may be raised according to the difficulty of a cleared stage or stages, paradoxically speaking. The difficulty of sequent stages may be modified according to the difficulty of the cleared stage or stages. In other aspects of the present invention, a storage medium is used for storing a difficulty control program, and a game apparatus is used to enable the difficulty control program to be implemented as a part of a RPG or other video game.
According to one aspect of the present invention, a control method is provided for controlling the difficulty in a video game. The game is allowed to progress by clearing a plurality of stages for which individual difficulties are set. The control method includes selecting one stage from the plurality of stages in response to a command provided by a game player, and gradually adjusting the difficulty of the selected stage every time an event that is voluntarily challengeable on the selected stage is cleared by the game player during the execution of the game. The control method further includes adjusting the difficulties of at least one of the plurality of stages in accordance with the difficulty of the selected stage at a clearing time when the selected stage is cleared by the game player""s operation during execution of the game.
Therefore, the difficulty of a selected stage may merely be relaxed gradually every time an event that is voluntarily challengeable on the selected stage is cleared. Alternatively, the difficulties of the other stages may be relaxed when the selected stage is cleared. Thus, sufficient returns are gained, because the difficulties of other stages may be relaxed by clearing a selected stage through making free use of a high-grade strategy. The sufficient returns may maintain the interest of a player in that the player may desire clearing the selected stage more quickly with free use of the high-grade strategy. In addition, since the difficulties of the other stages may be relaxed by clearing one stage, the stages may be completed relatively quickly thereby enabling the player""s xe2x80x9cplay zestxe2x80x9d or interest to be further maintained.
In accordance with the above-described embodiment of the present invention, a parameter for adjusting the difficulty of the selected stage may be set, and the degree of the adjustment in the selected stage may depend on the value of the parameter. The upper limit of the parameter may be set for the selected stage, and the value of the parameter may be increased not more than the upper limit, when the degree of the difficulty of the selected stage is relaxed.
Consequently, the adjustment value of the difficulty of the selected stage may be determined when a challengeable event is cleared. However the value is determined, in one embodiment, within a range in which the accumulated value of the difficulty adjustment is not more than the preset upper limit. This implies that only small returns may typically be attained by clearing the voluntarily challengeable event.
Further, in the above invention, when the degree of the difficulty of at least one of a plurality of stages is relaxed, a value corresponding to the difference between the upper limit value of the parameter and that of the parameter may be added to the parameter used for adjusting the difficulty of the selected stage. As a consequence, if the selected stage is cleared in a state of a small accumulated value of difficulty adjustment in the first adjustment step, the difference between the preset value may be greater than or substantially equal to the upper limit, and the accumulated value of difficulty adjustment in the former adjustment will be generally be relatively large. When the selected stage is cleared in the state of the small accumulated value of difficulty adjustment in the previous adjustment step, a large value may be set as an adjusting value of the difficulties of the plurality of stages, which may maintain the player""s play zest of desiring to clear the stages relatively quickly by making free use of high-grade strategy.
Still further in the above invention, a game may have such a clearing condition that a player character may need to partake in a virtual battle with an enemy character according to manipulation input. In addition, the player character may win a battle with a predetermined enemy character set in each of a plurality of stages. If such is the case, a method in accordance with the present invention may include relatively adjusting the difficulty of a selected stage by increasing an ability value, which acts more and more advantageously for the player character in the battle as the value becomes larger as well as adjusting the difficulties of at least one of the plurality of stages by increasing the ability value.
Consequently, in the game implementing the virtual battle between the player character and the enemy character in accordance with manipulation input, when the player character wins a battle with an enemy character, the ability value of the player character in the selected stage is increased. In addition, the difficulties of the plurality of stages may be relaxed by increasing the ability value. Therefore, the difficulties of the other stages are effectively adjusted by clearing one stage, which may serve to maintain the player""s interest in the RPG.
Further, the present invention may be embodied by enabling or otherwise causing a computer to read in a program stored in a computer-readable storage medium. Therefore, storage media allow the program to be distributed and sold readily in the form of software products independent of an apparatus used to play a game stored on the storage media, e.g., independent of a game apparatus. When the software embodied on the storage media is used in such hardware as general purpose computers, general purpose game apparatus, etc., the game technology of the present invention may be carried out readily by these and other types of hardware.
Still further the present invention may implement a game apparatus which achieves the effect similar to that by the above invention. That is, one aspect of the present invention is a game apparatus which implements the control method described above.